Why Weren't You There
by TheChronicLiar
Summary: After a fight, Dipper runs from Bill and ends up in more trouble than he expected.


Hello People of Gravity Falls! This is a collaboration with the talented teaforascripturient. Go Check them out if you haven't already.

This story is a bit sad, fair warning. This isn't a romance. This has child dipper in it.

The fight was stupid, as always, just this time Dipper wasn't going to back down. Maybe he should have this time, though. The way Bill's eye narrowed and how he steadily grew redder with his anger, Dipper knew it wouldn't end well, but he had an awful habit of persisting long after his opinion was even welcomed.

Still, he didn't deserve this. The moment Bill struck him, Dipper's head shot to the side as shockwaves of pain stung his cheek and neck. He's had much worse physically, but having Bill actually hitting him…It was as if something broke in him.

Wasting no time to even think, Dipper turned around and ran into the woods. Bill shouting at him as he ran.

"PINE TREE! GET BACK HERE OR ELSE!"

Ignoring the yells, he continued to run. His mind was racing with thoughts of how Bill didn't even look apologetic for hitting him. And that was painful on its own.

He continued to run until his lungs hurt and his legs felt like jelly. Stumbling across the unfamiliar forest, he fell back against a tree trunk and slid down to the ground. His breathing was labored as he looked around, trying to figure out where he was, but it was getting quickly harder to do so. Tears welled up in his eyes, blurring his vision. He angrily swiped them away, but more came in their place. No matter how fast he was, the tears started to pour down his cheeks and a harsh sob ripped from his throat. He was so stupid. His breathing hitched pathetically as he curled his legs up in his arms, hugging himself tightly.

It hurt. It hurt so much. The fight didn't bother him much, but it was Bill. Bill was his friend, right? So why did he hit him? Didn't he promise to protect Dipper? Did that include from himself? Rubbing his cheek, Dipper couldn't help but sourly think that it didn't.

His eyes lowered to the black mark on his inner wrist. It was a black, filled in triangle with a single eye, wide open and staring at him. Dipper glared at the mark, refusing to give in. Bill had given it to him as a part of their deal. Dipper was to rub it at any time he was in trouble or needed Bill. And it would call the demon to him.

Maybe it was hours later or maybe just a few minutes. All Dipper knew was that he was tired and it was steadily getting darker. It was obvious Bill wasn't going to come apologize to him and that didn't mean he was going to go say sorry either, but he needed to get home. The air around him stilled. Cursing and steeling himself for Bill, he slowly looked up, expected to either see a floating triangle or the man that slapped him earlier. No, instead he tall creature leaning over him.

Dark, empty eyes stared down at him, wide and unmoving. Black, thick hair that nearly reached the forest floor from how he leaned over, threaded over their face. "What brings you out here…and alone?" The last word sounded threatening in itself and Dipper couldn't stop himself from stiffening up in fear.

"W-who are you?" Dipper stuttered, pressing himself back against the tree.

A long, clawed hand reached up and scratched the thing's pointed chin. "I wonder," they mused. They shifted lengthy legs and the black torn leather that covered them groaned in protest at the movement. Their torso was strangely thin, hunched over as if their upper half was too heavy for them while their overly long arms hung at their sides. The sharp lines of their face became harsher as a sharp grin stretched across their gray face. "Though, who are you?" the creature asked before laughing as if he told a joke. Their slouched over shoulders shaking with the raspy laughter.

Dipper cringed at the sound of the creature's laughter. It sent chills through him, making him physically sick. He scooted himself over slightly, eyeing the figure. He needed to run. Everything within him screamed it. "I…I should go," he stated weakly, refusing to answer their question.

In that instant, the smile dropped. "Such a rude child," the chastised.

The malice wasn't even remotely hidden. Though Dipper couldn't see the anger in the other, he could hear it clearly. Taking a deep breath, he stood, shakenly. "S-sorry, I," he trailed off as his back scrapped against the tree bark. "I have to go home. My-my sister is waiting for me," he said with the best excuse he could come up with.

"Sister?" the mumbled as the leaned further down to where they were just above Dipper's height.

Dread filled Dipper as he nodded. Gulping, he side stepped the tree, being careful of the roots. "Y-yeah. She needs me." With each word, he took a slow step back.

The creature stared at Dipper for a moment before taking a single step forward, easily closing the gap Dipper created. The toes of their boots dragged across the ground as they stepped. "I'd like to meet this sister," they announced as a smile, if it could be called that, grew back onto their face.

Dipper leaned back as his body quacked. Warnings were blaring in his mind and told him to run. No, demanded him to run. The malicious intent from the other just bled over Dipper, making it that much harder to breathe. Part of him knew that running wouldn't help. His hand flew to the triangle on his wrist on instinct. He was already rubbing it furiously before he knew what he was doing. "M-maybe next time," he tried to concede just as the creature looked down at what he was doing.

"Don't you want to introduce me to your friend, first?" they asked coolly, eyes entranced by the mark.

Introduce them to Bill? The idea sounded tempting, but he had no idea what this thing was capable of. Even if he was mad at the demon, he didn't want him hurt. Though, he knew he needed that Dorito more than ever right now. "Ah, he doesn't like new people," he feigned as he rubbed the mark harder. He could feel dead skin peel away and it was starting to burn, but Bill was still nowhere to be seen. That didn't help the feeling of dread in Dipper. By now he was always here, even if they had recently fought.

Glancing up, Dipper was nearly paralyzed in fear by the creature's eyes. The black orbs held more cruelty than he expected. It made his mouth dry and he started to sweat. With his heart thundering in his chest, Dipper darted off into the woods, no direction in particular. He jumped over tree branches and rock as his lungs burned with the rapid air intake. _BILL_ his mind screamed all the while rubbing the mark.

Just as he climbed on top of a fallen tree, something hooked on the back of his shorts. There was only a slight tug before he was sling shot to the side, flying across the forest floor. The forest floor caught him as he tumbled across it. Rocks and sticks dug into at every impact until he skidded to a stop.

"Very rude. Running isn't polite," came from behind him.

Dipper hissed in pain as he looked back to see that they were still standing where they tossed him from. And it was a surprisingly far distance. Slowly, dragging their feet, they walked toward him. Desperately, he crawled across the ground in a vain attempt to get away.

"I do hate punishing kids," they sighed, but it was a flat out lie. Dipper could hear the smile and the excitement.

Dipper screamed as a hand grabbed his ankle and he brought up off the ground. The creature stood at their full hit, menacing in its own right, and used its long arm to lift him far above their head. Their free hand reached out and grasped Dipper's marked wrist. Suddenly the dropped his leg and a sickening pop came from his wrist as he fell. Dipper screamed again, but it was more in pain than fear this time. He tried to remove his wrist from their grasp, kicking at them and tugging at their fingers, but it didn't even phase them. "Bill," he sobbed as he clawed at the hand.

"Bill?" they hummed. "Is that the friend you are calling?" Their rank breath filled Dipper's nose, making him gag.

"Yes! And he's coming!" he yelled angrily. His desperation was quickly growing. "And you better let me go before he kills you!"

"Is that so?" They stared at Dipper as the hand slowly tightened around the wrist. If the pain before was bad, this was much worse. Dipper could feel as his bones snapped and splintered. He screamed until his throat hurt and even then continued. His body swung around, trying to detach himself. He nearly sobbed in relief when the creature dropped him. The shock from the ground stung his ankles as he fell and it was enough to have him topple to his side.

He frantically rubbed at his wrist, trying his best to ignore the pain as the skin swelled and turned an ugly purple. He ignored the other as he silently begged Bill to save him. He promised no more fights, that he would listen.

A whimper escaped him as a foot rolled him onto his back. Black eyes stared down at him coldly as a foot rested on his knee. "But will he get here," more pressure on his knee threatened to break it, "before I kill you ?"

Then the joint cracked and dislocated under the creature's foot and Dipper's mouth gaped in another scream that instead came out silent.

Lifting their foot off of him, the creature looked around slowly as if looking for something. "Still not here," they frowned. They squatted down and poked at the knee, moving the bone around.

Dipper's mouth was slacked open in a silent scream, arching up off the ground, in pain. He could keep as his kneecap was dragged across bones. When the creature released the bone, he couldn't help by sob in relief this time.

"Where is your friend? They know you called? Do they not care?" they asked, insistently. They leaned over Dipper, caging him in their arms. "Why not cry out to them again?"

Tears streamed from Dipper's eyes as he tried uttering Bill's name again. His thumb rubbed furiously at the mark on his wrist, but no one appeared to save him. There was no static, no noise, no change of color to indicate Bill's arrival. All he felt of the demon was the remainder of having been struck earlier, which stung from the salt water streaming down and pooling on his face. Brokenly he mouthed, "Bill, please," but no answer came.

"Seems you are one fewer friend than you thought…" Their hand traced Dipper's side, running over his ribs slowly as if they were counting them. Dipper remained frozen, sobbing as they did the other side as well. They stopped over one of his lower ribs, pushing it in slowly with their knuckle. Dipper fidgeted, wanting nothing more than to hit their hand away. Their hand pulled back before jamming their knuckle down on the bone with a snap.

A short cry came from Dipper before he dissolved back into sobs. The creature seemed interested in this and did it again and again and again. Even holding back Dipper's arms and he broke the ribs one by one.

Dipper's sight was getting hazy. He grew silent with the last few breaks, only whimpering at them. His eyes closed, hoping to pass out, but a sudden force hit his chest. The creature's crashed down on Dipper's ribs. More breaks could be heard as Dipper gasped on the ground, convulsing for air. When he could finally breaking, ragged coughs erupted form him. The pain was unbearable and surprisingly the creature rolled him onto his side as he coughed. Though that just added to new pains as the bones in his chest rubbed painfully against each other. He didn't stop coughing until his stomach emptied beside him. Sobbing, he didn't want to cough anymore. Blinking through his tears he could see the puddle of stomach acid. It was laced with a bright, vibrant red. Blood.

"You broke too easily..." The disappointment clear in their tone.

Everything hurt. Everything hurt to the point his fingers and toes were numb with cold. His chest and throat burned, the bitter taste in his mouth mixing with the dryness of his tongue. His vision blurred and his hearing was fuzzy, and there was still no Bill.

He was broken on the forest floor and the one person he'd counted on to make sure something like this didn't happen had never shown.

He couldn't breathe, the small gasps of air too few and far in between to sate his need to fill his lungs. Meanwhile, light touched his face as the creature stood above him, staring at their handiwork.

They sniffed at the blood that had clung to their claws from the hit they had delivered to the boy's chest. The claws left several cuts in the orange shirt, now darkened with blood. A long black tongue slipped out and licked at the claws, taking the blood off of each one of them.

As the creature leaned back over him, blocking the light once again, Dipper's eyes screwed shut as he silently called out for Bill. Where was he? Why wasn't he coming? He should be able to see what was happening to him. Was this some kind of punishment? He'd say sorry a thousand times if Bill just came and saved him.

"He's not coming," they whispered.

Dipper flinched.

"They won't be. You're going to die. Alone."

Dipper started to shake his head as his vision went black, but stopped as agony ripped through him. They were wrong. Bill would come, he had to. He'd promised.

They had to be wrong.

The fuzz in his ears grew so loud he had no recollection of the creature doing anything afterward. All he knew was that the taste hadn't left his mouth and the pain grew tenfold before numbness started to settle in his skin and bones. Bill was coming. Bill was coming, he had to.

He bit his lip hard as a soft cry escaped his rapidly closing throat. He wasn't coming. Bill really wasn't coming. Dipper was alone and Bill wasn't coming.

By the time the cold reached his chest, throat still closing and eyes still burning, he recalled briefly an old set of words he'd long forgotten. One last sob wracked him as he berated himself. He should have trusted no one. Then maybe, just maybe . . . he'd still be alone but at least he'd still be breathing.

Hours passed since Bill had last felt the last summoning. The kid had finally given up. Serves him right. Running off like that, ignoring him. Hell he hope the kid fell down somewhere, begging for him to help. By now, Pine Tree would be thankful to see him.

Twirling his cane, a portal opened up before him to where the boy should be. The landscape bleed to gray hues around him as he looked through the woods. "Pine Tree! Where are ya?" he yelled out, pausing to hear the inevitable cry of his name.

There was none.

Bill wasn't much for worry, but it didn't sit well with him. Maybe the kid was just playing stubborn and refused to tell him where he was. If that's the case, he should have waited longer. "If you don't come out now, I'm leaving!"

Nothing.

His eye darted around the area. Where was the kid?

He listened out, but not a single sound reached him. The wood was entirely too quiet for his taste, and Pine Tree . . . he was no where to be seen.

He snapped his fingers once, calling out, "I'm not gonna call you again!" Still nothing. It was silent. Unnaturally so. Even Bill Cipher knew this was too strange for the kid. Something inside him grew tense, and his eye narrowed. Something wasn't right. This just wasn't right. The kid and he had argued before, but Pine Tree had never ignored him like this.

Floating around the forest, he looked high and low for the boy. There was no sign of color. He was nearly ready to take to the sky to get a better view when he spotted a familiar white and blue hat. He shot over to it and grasped the discarded hat off the ground. The hat looked like it normally did, no blood, just a little bit of dirt. The kid could still be alright. Probably worried about his hat. Just for the scare Pine Tree has brought him, Bill will make sure to burn the hat for this.

As he tried to keep the hope alive, he looked around for anymore signs of Pine Tree. His eye caught a disruption in the forest floor and followed the trail to see...No. It felt as if all the color drained from him. He could see the crumbled form of the young boy with his back turned to him.

Whatever still functioned inside Bill came grinding to a halt as he flew to the boy's side. "Kid?!" he shouted, expecting an answer. He received none. A hand dropped to Pine Tree's shoulder and immediately recoiled. He was cold. He was cold and unresponsive, and . . . he didn't flinch or pull away like he usually did after a fight.

Bill's eye landed on the boy's chest, and for once in his existence he was begging . . . someone to show him a sign of movement. He stared long and hard. He stared, but ultimately saw nothing. "Pine Tree?" he whispered, but by now he knew he wasn't going to get a response. Taking in the boy's broken body, he knew he'd never get a response again.

Then he screamed. His body roared to a fiery red as white flames scorched the ground around him and Pine Tree. It hurt. It hurt so much knowing that the kid was probably calling for his help earlier. And he didn't come. He just left him to a probably painful death.

As his scream came to an end, so did the fire. He floated down, landing softly near the kid's cold body as his scream echoed through the forest. "I'm so sorry," he whispered.

He placed a hand over the kid's heart. When he confirming what he already know. His hand stayed in place for a good long while. Fingers clutched the shirt, feeling the cold, lifeless skin beneath the material. Alone. He had died alone. He gazed at the mark on his wrist, raw from the rubbing and severely broken. Somehow that was the only injury that truly clicked with Bill. The only one that mattered. He could have stopped this. He could have saved him. Instead . . . .

Bill flared to crimson once again and glared around the wood. Who on this earth did this? Who could he make suffer? Who was to pay the goddamn price of his Pine Tree's life?

He wanted answers. And he wanted them now. " _Who killed him_ ," he demanded as he shook with rage.

"You did," a hoarse voice whispered around him. "He called out for you."

Bill swung around, searching for the source of the voice, but the darkening forest hid much from his view.

When the speaker came into view, they leered at Bill. The demon's hand left the boy's chest to clench fully as symbols flashed in his blackened eye. " _What did you just say_?"

"BILL!" came Dipper's voice out of their twisted mouth. "He cried for you. You never came. You must hate him." The creature stepped closer, a knapsack bag dragging behind them. "So alone..." they said sorrowfully, but their grin only widened.

The words felt like a physical hit to Bill.

More of the boy's screams and pleas for him came pouring from the creature's mouth and Bill went utterly still. The cries rang and he felt them. They were waves, shocking their way through him with such an intensity he couldn't possibly shake off the devastation of each blow. His eye twitched as the memories of Pine Tree's screams ceased and the creature leered at him. Voice thick and deep, Bill asked, "Have you given much thought on how you'll die?"

The creature hummed in thought, rubbing their chin with blackened fingers. "I have," they answered honestly. "Probably be a lot better than that child's. Abandoned and alone."

It most certainly would not. Bill intended to take his time. His sweet, precious time.

"Time for me to go," the creature sighed. Dropping the sack, they turned away from Bill and headed back into the woods. "When you are done with the body, come find me."

It felt as if something snapped with him as he flew at the creature. Not even thinking to use a long ranged attack, he just flew forward, body ablaze, and slammed into them.

Bill was surprised by the slight resistance before flying straight through the creature. He stared at the dark figure to see their body ripple back into shape. "That wasn't very nice," they hummed.

"I'm not feeling very nice." He was pissed. He was furious. He was beyond reconciliation and joking. Ultimately though, he was completely and utterly crushed.

"Do you not want the child?" they asked, pointing back to where Dipper laid. The knapsack that they had dropped has slowly been taking in the boy's body within it.

Bill's fury mounted and he snapped his fingers with such a force his knuckles cracked. "He's mine!" He watched as flames started consuming the bag. "He will always be mine."

Their head tilted to the side as they stared at Bill, unblinking. "They why let him die?"

Bill had no answer. He couldn't even bring himself to speak. He just snarled and snapped again. Flames circled the creature and the garbled words, "You'll pay," came out almost incoherently.

They tilted their head the other way, confusion evident on their face. "For what? You obviously didn't want the child."

"I wanted him. I want him." The flames drew nearer the creature. "And I want him back!"

"Then you should have came for him when he called." They turned from him and started to walk away.

The flames ran up the creatures legs as Bill snarled, " Yes, I should have ." But he hadn't.

Reaching down, to the flames, they ran their hands through the burning blue color, pulling back to see their skin split from the burns and black ooze out. "Then you have no right over his life."

Good. They can be hurt. He let the flames consume them without a single lick of hesitation. Rage flooded Bill as he screamed, "You had no right to take him."

They stretched to their full height as the flames took over. "He was mine in the end." Their skin blistered and oozed black blood.

It infuriated him that they didn't seem phased in the slightest over the fact that Bill was burning them alive. He wanted them to scream the way . . . the way Dipper had. With that in mind, he lowered the intensity, electing to simply slow cook the bastard instead of frying him quickly.

With a small, continuous snaps, their head fell back and turned to where Bill was. "Are you giving up?" they asked, taking noticed of the dulling flames.

"No. I just want to savor your ending." The way you savored my kid's, he thought.

"Boring," they sighed, staring at Bill. They slowly opened their mouth wide and screamed. It was a hellish sound. High pitched and racked with pain. And it sounded just. Like. Dipper.

In blind rage, Bill's flames roared to greater heights around the creature. The creature grinned as their body blackened and fell apart. Though, the screams lasted several moments after their body was destroyed, echoing around Bill before dissipating off. Bill stared at what little was left. He stared long and hard, trying to stop the ringing in his head. He tried to forget the sounds of Dipper's screams. He tried.

But he couldn't.

And he will never forget.

He caused this pain. He may as well be the one that killed Pine Tree with his own hands. Slowly, he made his way over to Dipper's body and fell down beside it. What was he going to do now?

Pine Tree's family sprang to mind and he knew he couldn't tell them. He couldn't let them see the kid like this. They would be devastated and Dipper would . . . he was dead. It was too late to know what he would have wanted.

Bill's palm pressed to the boy's cheek once more. He'd done this. Now he needed to take care of it. "I'm sorry, Pine Tree," he uttered again. He should have been angry over how broken up he sounded. Instead he was just . . . lost. "I've got you now." His other hand reached up and he was cupping Pine Tree's face. "I've got you." Not that it mattered. There was nothing to have now. Closing his eye, his fingers dug into cold, unresponsive flesh as he whispered, "I'll never let you go again."


End file.
